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User blog:BirdOfBlueFeathers22/I"The Sounds of Silence, Part Two" review
Synopsis Review We begin with the title card on a light blue background. It depicts the scene from part one of Peep and Chirp listening for lurmies while Quack hops about. Odd. We open to a shot of the big wide world at night. From a distance, and the right, Chirp hops into view. Joan begins the episode by explaining that Chirp is feeling happy tonight since Quack has been quite all day. Chirp whistles as she hops towards us and to the left. Joan reminds us how Quack has decided not to talk until Chirp begs him. (I guess it's fair to recap a bit in case anyone missed part one. We cut to Chirp reaching her bush and hopping onto it. It's a bit of a cloudy night, but that's not ruining her good mood. We close in on her as she gives a smug look at us. "Fat chance!" Joan says. Chirp then says to herself that perhaps tomorrow she'll hear the grass grow, a spider making a web, and the stars (here she gives a peaceful sigh, and yawns) twinkling. She falls asleep and it's adorable. Joan says (as we can see) that she fell into a deep quiet sleep until...and it's here we pan up to the cloudy night sky, and see and hear a flash of lightning! Chirp awakes in fright, and wonders what it was, legs trembling. Another crash of lightning. Chirp jumps in fear again and then onto the ground. She runs off, asking Peep if he heard it (does he live that close to her?) and we're treated to a rather spooky sillohuette shot of her running from her bush. I love scary stuff so I'm really enjoying this, Btw. We cut to a wide shot of Peep's can. Joan tells us that Peep did indeed hear it ---or was kind of hard to miss! We see him sitting and trembling in his can...which is somehow filled with a patch of light. Chirp runs in and bumps into him, falling over. Peep slides further onto the floor and Chirp, still upside down, lets her legs fall onto the wall of the can. Both look defeated. Chirp then greets Peep, who asks if she heard what he did. Chirp says she did and rights herself, adding that after she did she wanted to check on Peep because she knew he'd...and then gets interrupted by another crash of lightning. That's really touching, though, how she cares about her friend. As the lightning continues to strike, Chirp screams and the trembling pair cuddle together protectively. Aww. (Yeah, I say that too much). Peep risks a glance and quietly tells Chirp he thinks it's gone. Chirp smooches herself outside the can and looks around, commenting it looks okay from here. Reassured, she gets up and tells Peep she'll be going, and it was nice seeing him, and hops off...as it starts to rain. Screaming, she heads back, bumps into Peep, and the two fall into the can. As they get up, Chirp yells in anguish that she hates rain (I just want to say that I myself really love it, so this is making the episode really good.) Peep points out that at least they're nice and dry... just as the water begins to run into the can. The two look down at the water, which has reached Peep's feet. Chirp panics and runs to the back of the can. She stands there in fear as the water approaches her, and stares at Peep in fear and desperation. We cut to Peep, who stands ankle deep in the water flooding his can, looking down at it, and then stares sadly towards Chirp. We fade to day. Joan tells us that they had no choice but to spend the night on top of Peep's can. We pan down and see them sleeping on it, covered by a leaf. Chirp wakes up and, one eye open, peers around. She then happily stands, throwing the leaf off of them, and telling Peep to wake up, and that the rain stopped. Peep notices the sound of birds signing. Chirp listens, musing that it sure is peaceful without Quack's racket. She then looks uncomfortable and we see why: we're given a wide shot of the can, and see the area around it is flooded. Chirp gives a scream and jumps in fear. "There's water everywhere!" she panics. "How am I going to get home?" Peep hops down from the can and finds the water is ankle deep. He tells this to Chirp, splashing around in it. But Chirp says that she can't walk around in water---she hates it! Okay, let me take a moment to point out that Chirp's dislike of water has generally been rational. Heck, I think she even jumped in a puddle at the end of "Stormy Weather". Now, all of a sudden, it's seriously debilitating. This is rough to watch, especially if you've had debilitating fears in your life Back to the story. Peep asks the scared to death Chirp what she's going to do. Chirp doesn't know. Then she says something very bizarre: "Could you dtink it...do you think?" Peep then inhales as much water as he can and looks back to Chirp, who sighs in defeat, saying, "I guess not." Peep exhales, looks around, and says he has a better idea. He goes off, saying he'll be right back, leaving Chirp standing confused on the can. Chirp sighs sadly. We fade to later. Chirp sits on the can, miserable. She then hears Peep from off screen. He walks into the right of the frame, saying he has the answer to all their problens---ta-da! You can guess who we then see walking towards the can. He looks just as bored as yesterday. Chirp doesn't get it. She angrily tells Peep that Quack is never the answer. Quack opens his beak but then shuts it, eyes closed looking away from Chirp yet again. Then Peep says something I never thought he would say: "Chirp, you hurt Quack's feelings!" Let me point out here that despite how much of a jerk he can be, Quack is actually the most sensitive of the group. Sure, it's often theatrical, but he cries in quite a few episodes, more than Peep or Chirp. One of those times he was actually crying because he was so touched by the birth of a baby bird. I like to think that all of these times were very genuine moments of distress and emotion, but Chirp seems to have brushed them all off as an act, and given that Quack can be a jerk at times you cant really blame her for believing he has a thicker skin than he probably does. I also want to add that this is an important character moment for Peep. He's not only calling someone out, but calling out his best friend. Given his personality, which I went into detail of in my review of part one, this couldn't have been easy for him at all. As Quack glares unpleasantly at her, Chirp apologizes, but points out that she's stuck on a can, surrounded by water, and doesn't know what to do. The poor Robin is really miserable and helpless. I just want to give her a hug. Peep and Quack look thoughtful. Quack brightens, and then gives an odd look to Peep. The two look up to Chirp, and Quack gesticulates with his right foot to himself, glares at Chirp, and looks back to Peep. Peep says he thinks Quack had an idea. A Quack, smiling, nods and opens his beak, looking strange. He splashes his feet around in the water, before happily dropping himself back down in it. He gets back up and grins at Chirp. A nonplussed Chirp asks if she was supposed to understand that. Quack looks shocke, and then, looking angry, gesticulates his foot at Chirp. "Yeah, well I'm not begging you to talk, if that's what you're thinking," Chirp coldly responds. An annoyed Quack proceeds to walk off. As Peep and Chirp watch him go, Joan explains that since Quack won't talk, until Chirp begs him, there's only one thing he can do---find someone to translate for him. We see him walk away, over the hill...and then immediately come back, followed by Squeezing (who is still brown like in season two, unfortunately... Although I think the red one might have been a different squirrel. ) Once they arrive at the can, Quack takes a deep breath and through body language, tells Squirrel exactly what he tried to tell Chirp. Squirrel is amused by this and nods in agreement. He then pretends to look around, march, wave his hands, pretend to pull, wipe his brow in exhaustion, spin around, and collapse on his back in the water in exhaustion. He then gets up and cheerfully rubs his hands, which he then places on his hips, staring at Chirp smugly, to end his monologue. Throughout all of this Quack looks increasingly confused. We cut back to Peep and Chirp, who look even more so . Chirp collapses on the can, asking Peep if he understood any of it. Peep tells her he didn't, to which Chirp goes, "Oh, brothe" and Peep looks concerned. Chirp then asks Quack to please find an animal that can talk. Which reminds me...is it possible the squirrels can talk? Call it early installment weirdness, but the red one did in "Quack and the Very Big Rock". Quack taps his feet thoughtfully and then brightens. He goes off again. Once again we watch hin head off over the hill and then come back, this time with a frog. Chirp doesn't look pleased. Once they arrive at the can, Quack repeats his monologue to Squirrel, who repeats his monologue to the frog. "I don't know about Chirp but I'm getting confused," Joan comments. "Maybe the frog will clear things up ." The frog, however, just turns to state at Chirp and rabbits. Chirp and Peep stare at him blankly. Chirp shakes her head and gets up. "Okay, I can't take one more second of this!" she says in frustration. "Quack...I NEED TO KNOW WHAT YOU'RE TRYING TO SAY!" Quack stares at her, gives her a cocky look, and smugly shakes his butt at her. A defeated Chirp collapses on the can, and asks Peep if he has any idea what Quack is saying. Peep than gets another admirable moment, ad instead of telling her what he thinks, he asks, "Wouldn't it be easier if you just asked Quack to talk?" He stares at her sadly, and Quack gives a hopeful smile. Chirp is uneasy about the idea. But now she has to choose between what's more important to her: getting off the can, or admitting Quack was right. The difference here is she could avoid this if she simplky faced getting her feet wet. And because of this the story had really started to go downhill. But I'll talk more about that in the thoughts section. Chirp has been forced to make the decision, and she reluctantly decides Quack can talk, but she looks so miserable and defeated that I really wish she hadn't had to do this. Quack stares at her and shakes his head, and turns away, once again, eyes closed and beak shut and in the air. Peep feebly reminds her that she needs to beg him (Quack gives her a smug look here). I feel bad for Peep too, he's clearly having a hard time standing up to Chirp. Chirp, flapping her wings, angrily stands up, saying she refuses to beg...but then sighs, and, defeated but also annoyed, asks Quack if he'd please talk again. Quack just gives her a frosty stare. Chirp, looking incredibly saddened, says please, sounding sincere this time. Quack still continued to give her the icy glare. Chirp, sad as ever, asks pretty please. And Quack just continues to give her the icy stare. Chirp, who looks miserable enough to cry, says, "I really... really want to hear your voice again. I...miss it." "Ah-ha!" Quack says. "I knew you'd be sorry!" He then sings "I Na Na Na knew it!" while shaking his butt. Peep actually seems to be enjoying this. Chirp snaps him out of it, and Quack explains his plan: they call all the animals, who will help them dig two trenches to drain the water, into his pond, which could use some freshening up (did it not rain there last night?) At this point Joan begins to take over from Quack, saying he was so happy to have his voice back that he took a long, loud time explaining his idea. I can't make out was he says after"use a little extra water". Boo. Quack wouldn't like that. Except...he and the others are aware of the narrator sometimes. Eh, whatever. Anyways, after the part where he got interrupted, Quack says it will take about a week, and they'll plant a willow tree to soak up all the rest. "In a year or two, this will all be a distant memory," he finishes. As he's talking, Chirp has started to look depressed and Peep worried. Quack then asks Chirp what she thinks. Chirp just looks miserable, and asks if he has a simpler idea. Quack points out that she could just always ride on his back, but looks less than thrilled with the idea. The defeated looking Chirp sighs and thanks him, as he walks over to her, and she jumps on his back....with a weird sound effect used. We're then treated to an overhead shot of them walking through the small, ankle deep pond around Peep's can, the frog and Squirrel watching. Quack is very happy since his voice is good as ever. Poor Chirp, on the other hand, just looks exhausted and defeated, and when Quack starts singin (it's more screeching) she covers her "ears" and closes her eyes (Peep looks uncomfortable about it too at first, but then seems to enjoy it(. Joan says she guesses the moral of the story is, "Don't ask a duck to be quiet, cause you never know when you're going to get stuck in a puddle ... As something like that ." As they continue to walk through the water, Quack tells Chirp, who looks like she's having the worst time ever, "Chirp, you're not singing. I want you to sing, OK?" And the episode fades out. The end. Personal Thoughts on the Episode In short, I really don't know what happened here. It made me think, " What the heck did I just watch?" It barely felt like Peep at all. Part one didn't have these problems, why part two? I checked to see if they're written by the same person and they are. As tenth anniversary of the episode i is almost over (I barely managed to get this much written on it) I will have to write the rest of my thoughts on "The Sounds of Silence: part 2" later. OK, I'm back. I just want to mention that the episodes in question were written by Kathy Waugh, the writer of "A Duck's Tale" (I'm not really familiar with her writing history on the show). That one was pretty good, as it really characterized Quack. So what exactly did part 2 do wrong? Well, to start, as I mentioned in my summary, it suddenly shook things up by having Chirp suddenly be the one to have to make a difficult choice. That would be fine if it wasn't a choice she really could have avoided having to make entirely. I mean, she couldn't face ankle deep water? Seriously?! When Quack was the one who was going to have to make the big decision, it worked because we could see his viewpoint of it being a tough choice to make. And what choice he finally did make would say a lot about what was really important to him. Here, with Chirp however, what it says about her is that her fear of water has become completely debilitating for her. If she were really helpless, yeah, it would be understandable. But she wasn't. She just didn't want to do something she found uncomfortable. Despite Chirp's ridiculous fears, I still feel incredibly sympathetic towards her throughout this episode. She is just miserable the entire time---even by the end of it! Seriously, I think she smiled once in the last six minutes of it, and that was just at the idea of Peep drinking the water. So why did Ms. Waugh decide to make poor Chirp miserable? Simple---to paint her as the "bad guy" getting struck by karma. This becomes obvious once Peep tells her she hurt Quack's feelings. OK, first of all, this all just comes out of nowhere, and to be thrown on Chirp like that just feels wrong. 'In part one, neither side was necessarily painted as wrong, and it made us interested in what would happen. If Chirp had spent part one being incredibly mean to Quack---which I guess must have been the intention, but it sure didn't work---then yeah, I could see her getting struck by an episode's worth of bad karma. But from my viewpoint, she gets this just for wanting some peave and quiet, so it's incredibly painful to watch. The beginning is particularly sad to look back on or rewatch, as Chirp is truly happy and then it's just taken away from her in every way possibly. It's just sad to see, espicially, if you're a big fan of Chirp, like myself. She was my favorite of the three for the longest time, although Quack has since taken her place, and Peep, who I have always felt rather neutral towards, has grown on me, as I've come to see that he's more than just someone taking things in, but also a character as well-devloped as Chrip. (Quack is the most well-devloped, of course!) Speaking of Quack, there's also the fact that he is now "the victim", and as such never has to make a decision, but instead gets to have his cake and eat it too. This would be OK if Chirp wasn't portrayed as "the bad guy", wasn't portrayed as the one suffering here, and ended up having to make a tough decision (that allowed Quack to talk again) that actually fit with her character. I mean, admitting defeat or facing ankle deep water? Come on, Chirp is braver than that! So yeah. To me, part 2 is...pretty bad. It's interesting enough to watch once, but it's just Chirp-abusing trainwreck of a conclusion. Just the way it led to Chirp begging Quack to talk was a bunch of ridiculous, avoidable akwardness which led to an ending that left a sour taste in my mouth. What's interesting is that it starts off incredibly strong, with Chirp happy and the night thunderstorm. There's still great potential in these first few minutes, but then it's just thrown out the window. Even the funny moments sort of fall flat, like they were simply added in to keep the episode from being depressing as hell. Even the intended moral of the episode in the end is sort of up for interpretation. It could be what Joan said, or "Don't let an irrational fear get to you!" (which is definitely a good one), or some rather bad ones like, "Let your friend continue to be a complete loudmouth!" or even, "If you don't give into a bet soon enough, you'll look like the bad guy and get hit by karma!" As this was still part of the premiere of the new season, it was a really bad sign that the show might have been starting to go downhill. I haven't seen all of season three but from what I can tell that thankfully was not the case, and never truly was. The one thing I did sort of feel lost quality in the later episodes was Amanda Soha's performance as Chirp. At this point, however, she was doing an amazing job. (Interestingly, Jamie Watson Quack's voice actor, got praise for his vocal performance in this episode, despite the fact that Quack is silent for half of it). Between her performance and Chirp's miserable expressions, you seriously feel for her and want to give her a hug. Or at least, I do. And that's pretty much my review of "The Sounds of Silence", most of which I managed to write on the 10th anniversary of the episode. This review took a lot out of me, but I'm glad I did it. It was something I really enjoyed doing and plan to do with more Peep episodes. It's going to be fun reviewing more stories about my favorite trio of birds. Category:Blog posts